# Delete old data from an Index **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [July 10, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412 "2017-07-10T05:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elastic-fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@elastic-fan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elastic-fan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/1 "2017-07-10T05:04:09Z")
Hello, How can i delete the old data from an index, if i create an index everyday i am facing some problems wrt shards performance , so i have only one index and i would like to delete old data. please let me know how can i achieve this ---
**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/2 "2017-07-10T05:07:49Z")
You need to use the delete by query plugin, but it is really inefficient. > [@elastic-fan](#): > > if i create an index everyday i am facing some problems wrt shards performance Use weekly/monthly and reduce the shard count. That'll be much cheaper than the above. ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/3 "2017-07-10T05:07:54Z")
Using time-based indices does not necessarily mean daily indices. If you have long retention period and reasonably small amounts of data coming, you can instead use monthly indices. With a single index you will need to use the [delete by query API](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.5/docs-delete-by-query.html), which will be more resource intensive than simply dropping an index. ---
**Author:** ![elastic-fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@elastic-fan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elastic-fan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/4 "2017-07-10T05:21:47Z")
is there a way to automate this? ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/5 "2017-07-10T06:16:46Z")
If you are using time-based indices, you can use [Curator](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/curator/5.1/index.html) to automate index management. ---
**Author:** ![elastic-fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@elastic-fan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elastic-fan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/6 "2017-07-10T06:21:48Z")
i dont prefer using time based indices, i would like to have single index , can you please throw some light on API for clearing the data till last week? ---
**Author:** ![Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/christian_dahlqvist/32/4617_2.png) [@Christian\_Dahlqvist](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Christian_Dahlqvist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/7 "2017-07-10T06:25:58Z")
Using a [range query based on your timestamp field](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.5/query-dsl-range-query.html) together with the delete-by-query API should work. ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 6:38am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/8 "2017-07-10T06:38:47Z")
You should really follow @Christian_Dahlqvist and @warkolm advices. Time based indices is the way to go. You will also benefit from index sorting, so faster searches. ---
**Author:** ![elastic-fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@elastic-fan](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/elastic-fan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 9:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/9 "2017-07-10T09:25:19Z")
any references for deleting old data with powershell which is n days old?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dadoonet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/dadoonet/32/137187_2.png) [@dadoonet](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/dadoonet)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/10 "2017-07-10T14:45:38Z")
If you are using time based indices, that should be something like: ```auto curl -XDELETE http://localhost:9200/test-2017-06 ``` (let say you have monthly indices). ---
**Author:** ![theuntergeek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/theuntergeek/32/44961_2.png) [@theuntergeek](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/theuntergeek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/11 "2017-07-10T16:26:56Z")
The aforementioned Curator comes with a Windows installer, so you'd be free to use it in power-shell. ---
**Author:** ![theuntergeek](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/theuntergeek/32/44961_2.png) [@theuntergeek](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/theuntergeek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/12 "2017-07-10T16:42:32Z")
I should also point out it has [command-line functionality as well](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/curator/current/singleton-cli.html) (not just YAML-configuration), which should be just as easy to use from powershell. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/delete-old-data-from-an-index/92412/13 "2017-08-07T16:42:50Z")
This topic was automatically closed 28 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.